Metal News for March 4, 2005

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25 news articles posted on this day.

UNHOLY GHOST have announced the addition of former DEICIDE guitarist Eric Hoffman to the group's ranks. "Eric is an amazing guitarist and we are all very excited to be working with him!!" reads a posting on the group's web site.

Hoffman joins the band as the replacement for founding member/lead guitarist Kelly McLauchlin, who left the group last month in order to continue on with PESSIMIST and other musical interests.

UNHOLY GHOST are currently in pre-production for their sophomore album, tentatively titled "Blasphemy of the Grand Devine". New songtitles include "Venomous Habitation" and "The Suffering Church".

UNHOLY GHOST's debut album, "Torrential Reign", was released last April through Olympic/Century Media Records. The CD was recorded at D.O.W. (Diet Of Worms) studios in Seffner, Florida with producer Juan "Punchy" Gonzalez (MORBID ANGEL).

Departed NASUM frontman Mieszko Talarczyk, a victim of the December, 2004 Thailand tsunami disaster, will be honored on Sirius Satellite Radio's "Bloody Roots" program this Sunday, March 6 beginning at 2:00 p.m. EST.

"Bloody Roots" host Ian Christe will pay tribute to the fallen Talarczyk by dedicating this week's program to his memory and the ten successful years of Mieszko's band NASUM. The show will also feature a host of current day Swedish acts, many of whom Talarczyk produced, and will also detail Swedish hardcore pioneers that helped pave the way, including bands such as RATTUS, ANTI CIMEX, and BLACK UNIFORMS. The episode will rebroadcast on Tuesday, March 8 at 9:00 p.m. EST.

"Grindcore is a very democratic world, nobody asks to be a rock star," Christe states. "But NASUM were basically Grindcore 2.0, and when you listen to their huge back catalog, and the multitude of ripping side projects, the bands Mieszko himself produced — good god, there's a huge sense of loss. A central chunk of the heart of Swedish grind has just vanished."

German extreme metallers Disbelief will celebrate the release of their upcoming album "66 Sick" (due March 14) with a party in Nieder Ramstadt (at "Steinbruch Theater"), where the album plus two brand new clips will be previewed. Additionally, fans can grab a bunch of freebies and the back catalogue as a nice price offers. For more info, click here.

Music channel Viva Plus will play the clip for "Rewind It All" on Saturday, March 6, during their "Axt" feature.

Right in time with the release, Disbelief will embark on the No Mercy Festival tour across Europe . Here's the dates:

Finnish megastars Nightwish recently added two more awards to their already impressive collection: The listeners of Rockantenne, the biggest Rock and Metal radio station in Southern Germany, voted for "Best album in 2004" and "Best song in 2004".

After our fantastic anniversary tour we were convinced that we want to work with a label that pushes us forward with creative ideas and full power support. With this in our backs we can jump right into the making of our next album. We imagine to do something without stylistic changes but with a wider range of sound. After the good experiences with Victor's latest solo album we want to get the Whiterussian Symphonic Orchestra involved, similar to what we did a couple of years ago on »Lingua Mortis«. This time the result will be a lot harder. That's how the new songs sound we recently wrote in first rehearsals. They blend in perfectly with our latest releases.

To celebrate the release of Such a Surge's upcoming album "Alpha" (in stores April 4), fans should check out the release parties. At the following venues you can pre-listen to the new album, grab some freebies – and of course generally rock out.

Such a Surge have just issued a new five-song EP, "Mission erfüllt", as a teaser for their upcoming album. In addition to a couple of different versions of the title cut, the EP includes two exclusive songs ('Powersurge' and 'Einfach sein') and a video for 'Mission erfüllt', which can also be viewed online at this location.

Soilwork''s video for the track "Stabbing The Drama" has been posted online at this location (Real Media).

"Stabbing The Drama" is the title track of the group's new album.

With regards to the "Stabbing The Drama" video, Soilwork vocalist Björn "Speed" Strid had the following to say:

The video director's idea was to have only me in the video, to make something different than just a band video and more like a one-person performance with a little story around it.

I can tell you it was fucking freezing out there (-10 °C), but luckily there was a lot of burning car wrecks in the video that I could get at least some heat from... It became pretty chaotic sometimes during the recording, since I was just in front of the burning wrecks while people where throwing diesel. It was pretty fucking close that I caught fire several times, but it surely was an interesting experience...

In other news, "Stabbing The Drama" entered the Swedish album charts at #14 – and #1 on the metal chart. .

Kataklysm has won "Best metal group" at the Canadian Indie Music Awards. The band wishes to thank all the fans who voted for them.

Kataklysm will not be able to attend the event in Toronto at the Phoenix Theater to receive the award, as the band is currently on tour with Danzig.

Singer Maurizio Iacono offers the following tour update:

We are presently half way done with the tour and its been absolutly great. We didnt know what to expect coming into this tour as an extreme act, but so far i can truly say its the most important tour we've done in the states and its been packed every night. Response has been amazing with violent pits every night, we've been treated with nothing but respect by Danzig and there crew were having loads of fun and exposing Death Metal to a new audience and making lots of new fans. Cool to be part of the Danzig /Doyle 30 min Misfits reunion shows in Boston/NYC and Philly it was historic and the Crown went apeshit. We hope things keep going like they are and we will see you all soon ..

Measuring in at 19 inches long / 8.5 inches wide, and crafted carefully in a demon sweatshop just outside the 9th circle of hell, Wednesday 13's hand puppet will be available later this month. For more information, click here.

Also coming later this month, the Wednesday 13 "I Walked With A Zombie" video. An ecard featuring more music from Wednesday's upcoming "Transylvania 90210: Songs of Death, Dying and the Dead" will be in stores Wednesday the 13th of April.

Some new tour dates for The Warriors and Terror have just been announced. Parts of the tour also include REMEMBERING NEVER (featuring Mean Pete), BLUE MONDAY, HOODS,& THE ACACIA STRAIN. Here are the tour dates:

This past Monday (2/28), The Agony Scene hauled ass from Tulsa to Atlanta to shoot the video for "Prey," the first single off their killer new album "The Darkest Red." The video was directed by Chad Rullman (Mastodon's "Iron Tusk").

Chad and crew arrived two days prior to the shoot to start building the set, constructing the entire thing from scratch. The band arrived at 10 AM on Monday, unpacked their gear and immediately headed off to make-up and wardrobe.

From there it was rehearsal time. This was pretty much the first time the band had played anything off "The Darkest Red" anywhere except the studio or a rehearsal room. But by the third time through the song, (and with the help of a little 'medicine') they were tearing it up. Time and time again, they tore through "Prey," owning the track as Chad and Co. captured their every move. Brian and Chris banged in unison to the track as they abused their bass and guitar respectively. Steve thrashed at his guitar like a man possessed and lead singer Mike stalked the camera like it was the perverbial "Prey" of the song's title.

The trooper of the day award clearly went to skinsman Brent who pounded at his kit each time as if it were the first (even when he was doing it for the 20th time during solo shots at midnight).

Following dinner, they celebrated Steve's very metal 21st birthday with a very metal cake with balloons and flowers on it. Jarboe of Swans fame (who appears in the video, but did all her shooting on Tuesday after the band had already left) stopped by to hang with the band and crew. Shooting wrapped at 1 AM (yeah, it takes that long to shoot just the performance part of a video), but not before Mike donned full rotting corpse make-up for the final shots of the video. He screamed out the final chorus time and time again, skin ripping off his face, eyes bulging wide.

It's difficult to describe the video, but suffice to say, it will blow you away. Dark, atmospheric, intense, moody - well you get the idea. Anyway, check out The Agony Scene's photo gallery to get some visuals.

A one-minute, fifteen-second audio clip of a brand new Corrosion of Conformity track, entitled "Stone Breaker", has been made available for download at this location.

"Stone Breaker" comes off the group's new album, "In the Arms of God", due on April 5 via Sanctuary Records.

The group's first collection of new material since 2000's "America's Volume Dealer", "In the Arms of God" was produced by C.O.C.'s longtime collaborator John Custer. Besides working on four of the band's previous albums, Custer also produced C.O.C. bassist Mike Dean's track on Dave Grohl's Probot project and C.O.C.'s contribution to "Nativity In Black", the Black Sabbath tribute compilation. Playing drums was New Orleans' Stanton Moore, skinsman for the renowned jazz-funk combo Galactic.

01. Stone Breaker02. Paranoid Opioid03. It Is That Way04. Diry Hands Empty Pockets / Already Gone05. Rise River Rise06. Never Turns To More07. Infinite War08. So Much Left Behind09. Backslider10. World on Fire11. Crown of Thorns12. In the Arms of God

Track #3, "It Is That Way", has previously appeared at the High Times magazine compilation "High Volume: The Stoner Rock Collection", released last year.

Corrosion of Conformity will embark on a U.S. tour supporting Motorhead beginning on March 9 in Sayreville, New Jersey. Joining Pepper Keenan (vocals/guitar), Woody Weatherman (guitar/vocals) and Mike Dean (bass/vocals) on the road will be drummer Jason Paterson (Cry Love). Tour dates can be found here.

Slipknot percussionist Clown (a.k.a. Shawn Crahan) was forced to miss the group's appearance on NBC's "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" Tuesday night (March 1) after his wife was taken ill. "The band actually dedicated their performance to him and his family — that is what [Slipknot frontman] Corey Taylor said as the song started," a Roadrunner spokesperson told Blabbermouth.net. Crahan's wife reportedly suffers from Crohn's Disease.

Slipknot will kick off their "The Subliminal Verses Tour" with Lamb Of God and Shadows Fall on March 4 in Hartford, Connecticut.

In recent interview with MTV, Mudvayne frontman Chad Gray talked about losing the make up and the band's upcoming album, "Lost and Found." Several excerpts from the article:

Mudvayne frontman Chad Gray is sick. Sick with the flu. Sick of sitting on a cramped tour bus. And sick of his bandmates interrupting his interview.

"Dude, can I get, like, one f---ing minute to myself?" he yelled in between bouts of hacking coughs. "I mean, Greg [Tribbett, Mudvayne's guitarist] is back here on the bus. Ryan [Martinie, Mudvayne's bassist] is back here on the bus. Matt [McDonough, Mudvayne's drummer] is back here in the bunk area! Jesus!

"Sorry, they're like my brothers. Sometimes we get pissed off at each other. Sometimes we can't stand each other," he laughed. "But at the end of the day, we'll apologize and move on. Because we don't have a choice. I depend on these guys more than anyone else in my life. This is a stronger bond than most families have."

He's been on tour with his "brothers" since January in support of their upcoming album, Lost and Found, which stands as a huge departure for the band — both sonically and sartorially. Check the first single, "Happy?," which blends typical Mudvayne guitar thuddery with some really intricate and downright pretty fretwork; or the twisting and churning "Choices," which Gray describes as "the eight-minute opus." Oh, yeah, and for the first time, the band has dropped the goofy pseudonyms and alien/freak-show makeup they rocked in the past.

And the fact that this is constantly brought up is another thing making Gray sick.

"I sound like a broken record, but I think too much emphasis was placed on the makeup. When you listen to the CD it doesn't matter what anybody looks like," he said. "We felt the makeup added to the live performance. Unfortunately we were like two minutes too late, because Slipknot came out and we were like 'Oh, man.' But that's all that people talked about. So we decided to peel off another layer."

Today Is The Day are reportedly looking for a drummer to solidify an "upcoming musical project." Here's what TITD's Steve Austin says about the position:

"We are looking for a drummer for an upcoming musical project with my band Today Is The Day. If you are a super sick drummer, serious about Life and Music and ready to rock harder than ever, then you might be the man for the jam. Skills should include an understanding of Odd time signatures, fast double-kick capability, blasting, and most of all, an original style. We are based in Massachusett. We are looking for someone that lives close by or is willing to move... I wanna hear from anyone and everyone. I don't care if you are dreamin', tell us your dream. But, please no seriously fucked up people who can't play music. Your skills need to be advanced to get this gig, so if you think you got what it takes, then gimme a shout."

Finnish rock 'n' roll legends Hanoi Rocks have been confirmed for the 2005 edition of Germany's Wacken Open Air festival, set to take place August 4-6 in Wacken. The complete list of bands currently scheduled to appear at the festival is as follows: More...

Dimmu Borgir, Monster Magnet, Sentenced, Destruction, Primal Fear, Bal-Sagoth, Lake of Tears and Wintersun are the latest bands confirmed for the eighth annual Tuska Open Air Metal Festival, set to be held July 15-17 at Kaisaniemi Park in Helsinki, Finland. The 2005 festival will once again present more than 30 bands from different styles of metal, several of which will be announced at a later date.

Saturday, July 16 will be headlined by the infamous Norwegian black metallers Dimmu Borgir. Their Tuska performance will be one of few selected festival shows the band will do next summer. Dimmu Borgirwere originally scheduled to play at Tuska 2004 but after being offered one of the headlining slots at Ozzfest, they obviously had to cancel their appearance.

In addition to the already confirmed acts, more Finnish and international artists will be added to the roster.

Lamb of God frontman Randy Blythe recently spoke to the Asbury Park Press about being banned from performing at the Forum in Inglewood, Calif. (which is owned by the Faithful Central Bible Church) during Slipknot's show scheduled for April 9 due to an unusual offense: their former band name.

"We used to be called Burn the Priest," Blythe explained. "We changed our name, because we didn't want to be lumped as just a generic satanic metal band, because we don't sing about the devil or anything. The name is pretty harsh. We didn't feel the name represented what we were about, so we changed it.

"The people that own the Forum are a large church. Some of their congregates, I suppose, were not too fond of our former moniker. They own the place, so it's their right not to have us there. But I think they're being very close-minded and small-minded. They obviously haven't done any research. They don't know what we're about. That's their deal."

Not that Blythe is complaining.

Said the singer: "We already have another sold-out show set up on that day in the L.A. area. We're getting paid more money, and we're getting a lot of media attention. So all that's gonna do is sell more records. So, "thank you' to the people that own the Forum."

In the same interview, Blythe spoke about instigating the "Wall of Death" during last year's Ozzfest. At the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel in July, the lead singer directed the audience to part down the middle in front of the stage. On the count of four, Blythe ordered the two sides to charge one another, mirroring a famous battle scene from the 1995 Mel Gibson epic "Braveheart".

"Well, it comes from the old-school New York hardcore scene," Blythe answered when asked if the band ever fear for fans' safety while instigating the "Wall of Death." "I did it when I was a kid. It is pretty brutal. We haven't done that again in a long time, because I have seen people get hurt. We were warning people, like, "Look, if you don't know what's about to happen, get out of the way.' Particularly, our guitar player, Mark (Morton), won't even watch if we do that. He turns around, because he can't stand to watch it. It makes him feel kind of ill.

"You know, a good, crazy, violent (mosh) pit is a good time as long as it's a relief for everyone, but when people start breaking legs and stuff, it's no good. And I don't wanna be responsible for some kid gettin' paralyzed or losin' an eyeball or anything. So we've kind of laid off on that, but the kids call for it every day. They're doin' it on their own sometimes. It's like you're damned if you do, damned if you don't."

Korn's version of Public Enemy's 'Fight The Power' (also featuring rapper Xzibit), is to be included on the soundtrack album for new movie 'XXX: State Of The Union', starring Samuel L. Jackson, Willem Defoe and Ice Cube. The record is to be released next month.

The Offspring, The Transplants, My Chemical Romance, Atreyu, Avenged Sevenfold and Thrice head the list of bands announced for this Summer's VANS Warped tour of America. Also on the bill are Dropkick Murphys, Fall Out Boy, Hawthorne Heights, Motion City Soundtrack, MxPx, Senses Fail, Strung Out, The Bled, The Explosion, The Matches, The Starting Line, Tsunami Bomb and Underoath. There will be a number of different stages and other attractions. Tickets go on sale via www.warpedtour.com from March 15.

I had the chance to sit down with Ken Susi, the guitarist from Unearth, and do an interview with him. This took place at the Trocadero Theater, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; on February 28th. Here is how the interview went: More...